Article III, Section 38 of the Texas Constitution ("Signing Bills and Joint Resolutions; Entry on Journals")
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Adopted February 15, 1876:
The presiding officer of each House shall, in the presence of the House over which he presides, sign all bills and joint resolutions passed by the Legislature, after their titles have been publicly read before signing; and the fact of signing shall be entered on the journals.
Editor Comments
None.
Recent Decisions
None.
Historic Decisions
- Parshall v. State, 138 S.W. 759, 763 (Tex.Crim.App. 1911) ("It is also contended by appellant that the said act of the Legislature is unconstitutional, in that article 3, § 38, just above mentioned, was violated, in that the journals of the Legislature do not show that the title of said act, as finally passed, was read in full at the time of the signature of the respective presiding officers of each House. From this provision of the Constitution it is seen that it does not require that the journals of the two Houses shall affirmatively show what the title of the bill enacted is or that the full title thereof was read.")
Library Resources
- Vernon's Annotated Constitution of the State of Texas (this multi-volume and up-to-date resource is available at all law libraries and many municipal libraries)
- The Texas State Constitution: A Reference Guide (this one-volume resource is available at most law libraries and some municipal libraries)
- The Constitution of the State of Texas: An Annotated and Comparative Analysis (this two-volume resource is available at most law libraries and some municipal libraries)
Online Resources
- Constitution of the State of Texas (1876) (this resource is published and maintained by the University of Texas School of Law)
- Amendments to the Texas Constitution Since 1876 (this resource is published and regularly updated by the Legislative Council)
- Reports Analyzing Proposed Amendments (this resource is published and regularly updated by the Legislative Reference Library)